As we approach the end of Trump's first year in office, it seems appropriate to survey his performance and his outlook for the future. But right at the onset, one cannot escape the conclusion that, unlike any other of his predecessors, he is a weird and wild president who is devoid of any civility and moral responsibility. In less than a year, the absurd became the norm, ignorance became a virtue, and lying has sadly become the order of the day. He brought shame and dishonor to the most prestigious office in the world -- the US Presidency. His moral lapses, notoriety, vulgarity, and self-deceit are beyond the pale of the human disorder.

If Trump's behavior, public statements, and warped tweets do not seal his political demise, the blame must not rest on his shoulders alone. It must also rest on his party -- the corrupt Republican establishment -- for having mortgaged the fate of the country to a mentally unstable moron. The Republican party will be held responsible for what may well be irreparable damage to America's global leadership and moral standing.

It is no wonder that each letter of the alphabet -- from A to Z -- provides at least one maligning word that describes the man that has brought nothing but disgrace to his office.

- Advertisement -

To say that Trump is Arrogant understates his propensity to show off his presumed skills as a negotiator, alleged business acumen, and supposed grasp of complex issues. He constantly claims that he is smarter than everyone around him, even insulting the US military by stating "There's nobody bigger or better at the military than I am," and "I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me." No wonder Trump can't sleep at night; he feels obliged to "enlighten the world" with his early morning stream of twisted tweets.

Many people refer to Trump as a Bigot, a characterization which he owns and takes pleasure in displaying. No one has forgotten his outrageous attack on Mexican immigrants, stating: "When Mexico sends its people... they're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." His bigotry was even more pronounced when he belittled two Gold Star parents of a Muslim-American soldier who died in 2014 while serving in Iraq. By now, Trump has earned the distinction of making bigotry synonymous with his name.

One does not need to know Trump well to quickly discern that he is a Crude man with no scruples. He refers to Senator Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, going so far as to do so at an event honoring Navajo veterans. He regularly calls people "losers," "fools," and "lame," especially on Twitter. In speaking about the hosts of Morning Joe, he said "...low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago... around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" This is the real Trump -- behaving like a wild caveman who has long since lost his civility.

- Advertisement -

Being a Demagogue is second-nature to Trump; he will say anything, however contradictory and absurd, only to fuel his base. He made a campaign and inauguration pledge to eradicate Islamic terrorism from the face of the earth, knowing that this will never happen. In his inauguration speech, he stated: "Every decision... will be made to benefit American workers and American families" -- a phony claim, as the tax bill shows. He craves pomp and circumstance, claiming "That military may be flying over New York City and Washington, D.C., for parades. I mean, we're going to be showing our military." Demagoguery, to be sure, became Trump's staple diet on which he feeds.

For Trump, being an Egomaniac fits not only his persona but his perpetually disturbing self-praise. Perhaps he still doesn't believe that he is the president and needs that reinforcement. His tweets like "Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named "Man (Person) of the Year," like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass..." show the enormity of his ego. Trump continues to boast about the size of his inaugural crowd, insisting that he had a much larger turnout than Obama in 2009. He still can't digest that a smaller crowd attended his inauguration than that of a black president.

Trump is the only president who has committed Fraud on such an unparalleled scale. Starting with Trump University, he violated NY laws by calling it a university but operating without an educational license. He charged students $35k a year, promising they would "learn from Donald Trump's handpicked instructors, and that participants would have access to Trump's real estate 'secrets.'" No jobs were offered, and no secret information was revealed. He filed for bankruptcy four times (1991, 1992, 2004, and 2009), was repeatedly fined for breaking rules related to his casinos, and so on. The dictionary might as well define the word "fraud" by citing some of Trump's fraudulent business dealings.

If nothing else, Trump is a master of Garbled words. Despite his praise of his own language skills, his unscripted utterances are incoherent, such as his description of visiting Napoleon's tomb, saying: "He did so many things even beyond. And his one problem is he didn't go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death." He rambled on about foreign policy, stating "You know, he [Obama] can talk tough all he wants, in the meantime he talked tough to North Korea. And he didn't actually. You look at the red line in the sand in Syria. He didn't do the shot. I did the shot..." Yes, Trump did attack a Syrian airbase, but only after "receiving permission" from Putin.

Putting his travel ban into immediate effect, stranding hundreds at airports, and blocking off access to the US arbitrarily is as Heartless and cruel as can be imagined. He endorsed a proposed repeal of Obamacare without plans to provide aid to disadvantaged communities. He has made no effort to renew the Children's Health Insurance Program, ending care for 9 million low-income children, while giving billions in tax cuts to the richest of the rich. He callously ended DACA, which will affect almost 800,000 young adults who came to the US when they were children and don't have a home to return to if deported. Terminating DACA would also lead to splitting up families -- those who illegally immigrated but have children that were born in the US. If Trump needed a heart transplant, his body would reject any heart which has not already been imbued with cruelty.

Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that being Ignorant is a virtue, especially when he pretends to know everything. He suggested that Frederick Douglass is still alive, offering "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice." He took pride in the fact that he was tutored by Chinese President Xi Jinping about Korean-Chinese relations at a dinner. That's how quick a learner he is. When discussing healthcare, he stated in February "Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated." Of course not. Trump thought that repeating "repeal and replace" is all it takes to resolve America's healthcare problem.

- Advertisement -

Trump talks, walks, and brags like a Juvenile. He childishly tweeted: "We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me)." Exactly like an infant, he also engaged in a Twitter war with basketball personality LaVar Ball, after Ball did not thank him for negotiating his son's release from a Chinese prison: "...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you...Ungrateful fool!" So, if you walk, talk, and brag like a juvenile, you are qualified to replace Trump.

Being Knavish is just another characteristic that defines Trump as he has become known -- with no scruples and no principles. He insists that the tax bill will benefit all Americans, when every study shows that the tax bill will benefit the rich the most, and will in fact harm middle class and low income families. He falsely claims that the tax bill "is going to cost me a fortune, this thing -- believe me. Believe me, this is not good for me" (this has been disproven by economists). He commonly mistreats his workers (many of whom were immigrants). There are still many lawsuits against him for not paying his laborers. Unfortunately for them, they will have to wait to be paid until he is impeached.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center
for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation
and Middle Eastern studies. His dedication to writing about, analyzing, and (more...)